Aaron Hernandez’s cousin, Tanya Singleton, was “so close” to alleged murder accomplice Ernest Wallace that she considered him to be a “part of her family."

Brian Fraga Herald News Staff Reporter @BfragaHN

FALL RIVER — Aaron Hernandez’s cousin, Tanya Singleton, was “so close” to alleged murder accomplice Ernest Wallace that she considered him to be a “part of her family,” according to documents filed this week in Fall River Superior Court.

Singleton’s lawyer, E. Peter Parker, also wrote that Singleton was “extremely close” to Hernandez, the former Patriots tight end who is charged with murder for the June 2013 fatal shooting of Odin Lloyd in North Attleborough.

Parker filed a motion Wednesday seeking to combine Singleton’s two criminal cases so that she would not have to face two separate trials, which Parker said would be “unnecessarily burdensome and resource intensive, both for the court and for Ms. Singleton.”

Singleton, Parker added, and her family have “extremely limited resources.”

“She relies on disability payments to care for herself and her children,” Parker wrote.

Singleton, 38, currently has two separate cases, one where she is charged with criminal contempt and the other for conspiracy to commit accessory after the fact.

Prosecutors say Singleton, after she had been granted immunity, refused to testify before a Bristol County grand jury that heard evidence last summer in Lloyd’s murder.

Singleton is also accused of helping Wallace flee to Florida while detectives were investigating the murder, as well as discarding a cell phone in her name that Wallace is said to have used to speak with Hernandez and Lloyd on the night of the murder.

Prosecutors said Singleton also spoke with Carlos Ortiz, another alleged accomplice, about helping him travel to Puerto Rico.

Wallace, 45, and Ortiz, 27, are both charged with accessory after the fact and are being held on $500,000 cash bail. Hernandez, who is charged with murder and firearms offenses, is being held without bail.

Singleton was released after posting $15,000 cash bail on Jan. 30. Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh allowed her to reside with relatives in Bristol, Conn., because Singleton, who has been battling breast cancer, had a “sudden and serious decline” in her health.

In other recent developments, attorneys filed a pretrial status conference report on Wednesday for Shayanna Jenkins, Hernandez’s fiance who is charged with perjury for allegedly telling 29 lies to the grand jury. In the report, prosecutors said they had agreed to provide discovery materials to Jenkins’ attorney, including recordings of Hernandez’s phone conversations at the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth.

Jenkins’ lawyer, Janice Bassil, said she planned to file motions to dismiss the perjury charge and suppress evidence.